​Police: New drug charges after raid in Grand Isle

Michael Larrow Sr. of Grand Isle. Photo: Vermont State Police.

By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer
NORTH HERO -- A Grand Isle businessman, with both federal and state drug convictions, has been ordered to appear in Vermont Superior Court on new drug trafficking charges following a raid at his home and company last week.
Michael Larrow Sr., 63, has been a focus in an ongoing investigation into heroin trafficking in Grand Isle County since last October, according to the Vermont Drug Task Force.
State, county, municipal and federal law enforcement officials raided Larrow’s fishing bait business and home on Hyde Road in Grand Isle on Thursday. 
Eight firearms, drugs and an undisclosed amount of cash were all seized by investigators, a task force spokesman said.  Larrow is due in state court Sept. 16, police said. 
Larrow has a felony drug conviction in federal court in 2012 as part of a major conspiracy to distribute oxycodone in the area, records show.  He received a 57 month prison sentence and forfeited more than $11,000 in drug proceeds in July 2012.  The sentence was later reduced to 46 months in February 2015.
He also was sentenced in state court in July 2019 to 60 days to one year in prison after Williston Police and the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department said they found more than 400 pills in his apartment.  Police said they were mostly Diazepam, a painkiller.
A $1,500 fine also was imposed by Judge Robert Mello. 
Larrow’s shop had become so notorious as a local source for diverted prescription pills that it was well known in the community as “Island Bait and Bean,” Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito noted in his sentencing memo.
DiSabito confirmed Friday he had been consulting with the Vermont Drug Task Force since early in the investigation.  He said he helped secure the court-ordered search warrant, but is still waiting to receive police reports before determining the final charges.
The raid was conducted by task force members, including state police detectives, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and South Burlington Police, along with the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department, state police from Franklin County and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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